We were down at Castle Rock for three days of AKC agility. Friday Summit won Standard in the morning and then had a beautiful run in Jumpers (fastest time overall) but dropped the second to last bar. Saturday we ran Jumpers first and he won by a full second. That afternoon he had a nice Standard run (third place) for his first Double Q for Nationals. Sunday, again we won Jumpers in the morning. I was looking forward to Standard in the afternoon. We had a great opening but as I rotated out of a front cross, my foot slipped in the loose dirt and down I went. I had just cued the Aframe when I started to fall, I immediately jumped back up but as I'm doing so, I see Summit half way on the upside of the Aframe looking down at me with concern (or puzzlement more likely) and just as I thought we were going to be ok, he jumped off the side. Dang!
I am so pleased with our performance this weekend. Specifically Summit's jumping. We are at a point now in our teamwork where a wrong course happens very rarely. Our NQ's have been because of a single bar in jumpers. There are a couple of factors that I believe have contributed to the improvement in his jumping.
1. Building his core strength. We do "On The Ball" exercises twice a week for 20-25 minutes each session.
2. Stretching (active and passive). Passive stretching after exercise (training, ball work, and following his cool-down after a run). Active stretching following his warmup before going into the ring.
3. Jump grids (from advanced jumping skills section in DJS)
4. Varying jump heights while sequencing during training sessions (20"-22"-24") which teach him to pay attention to his jumping effort.
5. Regular PT visits to catch any soft tissue issues before they become serious.
We have a heavy competition schedule the next three weeks and then a nice break.
Here are a few videos from the weekend. Including of course the blooper!
Friday Jumpers with Weaves - 1 bar
Friday Standard - 1st place
Saturday Jumpers with Weaves (1st place) (missing video of Standard)
Sunday Jumpers with Weaves - 1st place
Sunday Standard - NQ because of handler blooper.
This weekend is the Utah 4-Star event and I can't go because I am teaching (already had a substitute when I went to the SC Regional in TX). So I will be playing in AKC this weekend. I do need the double Q's for nationals but still would rather be at the USDAA trial. There are several top International-class competitors who will be in Utah who I would have enjoyed watching.
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5 comments:
Summit is so gorgeous and powerful running agility! I just love to watch him! Glad he is so healthy and strong.
Also glad you didn't hurt yourself when you fell!
Thanks! I felt ok the next morning (not sore) but I did scape some skin off my palms.
Wow, the jumping does seem to look really nice, He looks like he is in great shape, I think it is exciting if that is what you feel is helping with the jumping-makes me more determined to keep up with the conditioning exercises before injuries or problems ever show up. Boy I am so glad you did not really turn your ankle or really get hurt, whew, that could have been bad. Those were some beautiful runs. I think it is very rude of your job to get in the way of agility and fun ;-(, that is a bummer, it sounds like it would have been a great trial to go to ;-).
Awesome runs! Im going to try and make my front crosses like yours. Will see if I can do it. LOl Im so glad you didnt hit your head on the a-frame when you fell.
Congrats on your wins!!
You can certainly see the difference in summits running, he looks like he is really 'diging in' when he moving. & congrats on results.
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